Faced with the easing of the population in terms of barrier movements and the resurgence of the epidemic throughout the territory, especially in the center and north of the country, the National Gendarmerie has just announced the resumption of old regulations decided by the Ministries of Interior and health. It is clear, social distance, sanctions for not wearing a mask and above all the obligation to bury the dead from Covid or suspected of having died by Covid at their place of death. A hard blow to the Malagasy people, very much attached to the funeral rituals and the burial of the beloved in the family grave.
“We will soon enter the winter period. Permanent sanctions will be applied to people who break barriers, ”warns the National Gendarmerie in a statement.
As things increase over the island, it seems that ignorance is blowing through the population.
On the street, Faly in his thirties does not wear a mask like many other passers-by. If he is arrested, he undertakes community service. “Personally, I do not care about barrier movements. Because I’m sure the disease will not affect me, because here in Madagascar, everything we eat is natural, it’s organic, and it protects us! It makes me really angry that there is a tightening of the restrictions because I am not afraid of disease. ”
But for Tiana, as for many Malagasy, the most difficult part of these health measures is the fate reserved for Covid-19’s death. A strange and unpleasant reminder, she tells us, of the rules laid down during the plague epidemics on the island. “The bodies of people who die, for Malagasy it is sacred. If there is a dead Covid who is not buried in the family grave, it becomes a lost soul for us. It is hard for us to forbid ourselves to bury our dead “But we have to accept it, because if the virus is still found on the bodies of the dead, it can still infect living people. And it will be catastrophic for the people who are still alive!”
A study conducted in Germany by forensic pathologists in Hamburg and published in the specialist journal Emerging Infectious Diseases has just shown that the virus remains active for another 35 hours after death. Therefore, there seems to be a risk of disease transmission even after death. This is why the Malagasy authorities have just stepped up measures.
The government recalls that in order to be able to transfer a deceased person between his place of death and his grave, the family must be in possession of death certificates obtained from the municipal hygiene office as well as the permit to bury issued by the municipality. Without these documents in order, no funeral convoy can circulate.
But “given the negative effects that the initial containment had on the economy, the state is doing what is necessary to avoid replenishment,” the health minister said.
In the wake of these announcements, Deputy and Opponent Roland Ratsiraka spoke in regretting that the government still refuses to accept vaccine donations. “An unfortunate situation”, according to him, showing that “public health is not the government’s priority”.
